


I'll be loving you (till we're seventy)

by insieme



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is getting old, Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Magnus has a hard time with that, Songfic, ageing fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 07:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16321382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insieme/pseuds/insieme
Summary: Alec is visibly older now, liver spots covering his skin and hair near solid grey, only a few dark pieces remaining. Even though he had told him not to, Magnus glamoured himself every single day, so that Alec wouldn’t feel bad. On the outside, they looked like any other old married couple, together almost fifty years. Together for the rest of their lives. But it was becoming more apparent every day that wasn’t the case, at least for Magnus.





	I'll be loving you (till we're seventy)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello angels!
> 
> I wrote a small angsty/fluffy thing today, based off the song "Thinking out Loud" by Ed Sheeran. 
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy xx

Alec was getting old. 

It wasn’t something that happened all at once, or something that Magnus noticed all of a sudden. It was a gradual thing, something that happened over the years in small moments. 

And of course, he knew it was always going to happen. He knew that Alec was going to age, that eventually even though he refused to think about it, Alec was going to pass on. It was something he was going to have to eventually come to terms with, but they had a lifetime to figure that out. 

But they didn’t. 

The first time he noticed it was when Alec got his first grey hair. It was early in their relationship, perhaps only a few years after they had been together. Alec had fallen asleep on Magnus’ lap while reading, something that happened more often than not. Magnus was stroking his fingers through his boyfriend’s ebony locks when he noticed it - one strand of stark silver, standing out against the rest. It took him by such surprise that he stopped his ministrations, pausing to look at the offending hair. 

He always associated Alec - his Alexander - with youthfulness. He was young and vibrant and made Magnus feel like he was in his 20s again; his _real_ 20s. Alec, as cliche as it sounded, made him young again. He had broken Magnus from a spell of eternal boredom, where day after day everything was the same. 

_Cause honey, your soul could never grow old; it's evergreen._

And so seeing a grey hair atop the head of the man that Magnus had associated with eternal youthfulness gave him pause, and a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. And so on the next card of his fingers through Alec’s hair, he let out a small burst of magic, turning the strand to brown. 

The next time it happened was years later. Alec was in his early forties, chasing one of their little ones around the loft. They were playing hide and seek, Alec crouched behind the couch. Their daughter circled the sofa, screaming excitedly when she found her papa, who scooped her up into a big hug. They both dissolved into a set of giggles, warming Magnus’ heart from where he watched from the kitchen. 

It wasn’t until a while later when Alec came into the kitchen, kissing Magnus on the back of the head and wrapping his arms around his waist, that he said “I’m getting too old for this.” It was an offhand comment, something that meant nothing, just a fact that Alec hadn’t put much thought into. But to Magnus it felt like a punch to the gut. 

Because Alec wasn’t able to do all of the things he had been able to do before. He still ran the Institute and trained, but he wasn’t being sent into the field as often, and when he did he often came back sore. He was a fully capable soldier and Shadowhunter, but he was older and his muscles didn’t react the same way as they had when he was twenty, even with runes. 

_When your legs don’t work like they used to anymore, and I can’t sweep your off your feet, will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?_

But as he always did, Magnus pushed the thoughts away and turned to his husband with a smile. Arms draped around his shoulders he pressed a gentle kiss to Alec’s mouth. He hoped his kiss would distract Alec from the slight pulse of magic he sent into the sore muscles of his shoulders and lower back, but the way Alec grinned against his lips said otherwise. 

“Did you just heal me?” He asked, pulling back with a grin. 

Magnus shrugged lightly, hoping his feelings weren’t spread on his face like the pages of a book. He knew Alec would worry, when he needn’t. Alec had enough things to worry about, without thinking about Magnus’ irrational thoughts. 

“Just avoiding you coming home tomorrow after training with Jace and complaining about sore muscles.” Magnus lied easily. “Purely selfish reasons only.” 

Alec shook his head in fond exasperation, but before he could lean in for another kiss they were interrupted by little feet running into the kitchen. Alec dropped a kiss to Magnus’ cheek before turning and scooping up their two toddlers, tickling them both so they giggled in his arms. 

It became something neither of them could ignore when Alec physically started to age. Since he was a Shadowhunter, it happened much later than if he was a mundane. His angel blood kept him younger longer, but there was a point even that couldn’t stop his eventual ageing. 

When Alec was in his late fifties, his hair had begun to grey considerably. There were pieces around the side and at the top that were too noticeable for Magnus to magic away without his husband’s notice, as he had been doing for years. Alec was okay with it, it seemed, at first. He joked about it one night after his shower, showing Magnus with a smile on his face. And when he smiled, Magnus noticed the deeper crinkles near his eyes, as if for the first time. 

_Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks? Darlin’ I will be loving you until we’re seventy._

“Magnus, look at this.” He grinned, sliding onto the bed. He had a section of his hair parted where grey roots were starting to form. 

And all Magnus could do was smile at him, reaching out and running his fingers through the damp locks. “And you still look beautiful, my darling.” He traced his thumb along the wrinkles on Alec’s cheeks, where faint liver spots had started to form. Barely noticeable to someone who wasn’t looking for them. 

Alec smiled, that blissful, dopey smile that made Magnus’ heard do somersaults, and he momentarily forgot his upset. He threaded his fingers through Magnus’ where they rested on his cheek, pressing a delicate kiss to his palm. “Thank you.” He whispered, soft and sweet. But when he pulled away, he laughed. “People are going to think you’re married to a cougar.” 

Magnus laughed, biting his lip. “I think the term you’re looking for is manther, love.” 

Alec sighed, flopping back onto the bed with a grin. “Whatever it’s called, I definitely lucked out. I’m married to the hottest 400 year old out there.” And Magnus laughed along with him, laughed as he and Alec slipped under the covers and got ready for bed. 

But as he was lying in the dark room, holding Alec close to his chest, he really thought about it. For all intents and purposes, Magnus was young. He looked the same as he had when he met Alec all those years ago. But Alec was changing, was growing old, and he would continue to do so for the rest of his life. As much as he usually tried to avoid it, he let his mind wander into the future, when Alec was elderly and Magnus well, he still looked as if he was just out of adolescence. 

_People fall in love in mysterious ways, and maybe it’s all part of a plan. Well I’ll just keep making the same mistakes, hoping that you’ll understand._

And so if the next day Magnus added a few strands of silver into his hair, a few wrinkles around his eyes, it’s purely for his own benefit. 

Alec was so strong. He’d been strong about it for as long as Magnus had known him, since the topic of his own mortality came up. He’d been okay with it, helping Magnus through it in small ways, even if he didn’t always realize it. 

He’d made the fear less, and the happiness greater. Because even as Alec is growing older, he was still the same Alec. Even when he was in his sixties and getting up the stairs to the loft took a little longer, he still kissed Magnus breathless when they get to the top. Even when he got removed from the field, and sent permanently into the office, he took it in stride and told Magnus “we get to spend more time together now.”

Alec was okay with ageing, until one day he wasn't. 

He was nearing his late seventies now. Magnus could see some tasks were harder for him, and some he wasn't able to do anymore. He got tired easily and he sometimes had trouble stringing his thoughts together. 

He was visibly older now, liver spots covering his skin and hair near solid grey, only a few dark pieces remaining. Even though he had told him not to, Magnus still glamoured himself every single day, so that Alec wouldn’t feel bad. On the outside, they looked like any other old married couple, together almost fifty years. Together for the rest of their lives. But it was becoming more apparent every day that wasn’t the case, at least for Magnus. 

And so one day, when Magnus came home and found Alec in tears on the couch, flipping through an old photo album, he knew what his husband was looking at. It was a picture of the two of them that someone had taken at the Hunter’s Moon, arms wrapped around each other and grins on their faces. Magnus remembered that day clearly; it had been their engagement party, surrounded by all their friends and family. 

_Well me, I fall in love with you every single day, I just wanna tell you I am._

As gently as he dared, Magnus slid in beside Alec on the couch, closing the book. Alec turned to him, eyes wide and wet with tears, and Magnus’ heart cracked. He wiped a stray tear away with the back of his hand, kissing Alec’s forehead. 

“I’m dying, Magnus.” 

He said it like it wasn’t something he had put much thought into before. Something he didn’t realize, even though Magnus knew he had. And it’s hard, it’s so damn hard for Magnus not to fall into his own sadness in that moment, but Alec needed him. And so he would be strong, being the pillar of strength Alec needed to keep going. 

“Not yet, you aren’t.” He said back, holding one of Alec’s hands in both of his. It's cold, as his skin often was nowadays. Magnus had taken to magically installing a fireplace into every room of their house, because Alec can never seem to get warm. 

Alec smiled, but it was filled with sadness. He looked down at their joined hands, tracing the marks Magnus had gamoured onto his own thoughtfully. “I don’t want to leave you.” He admitted, choked and sad. 

And if they keep going like this, Magnus is going to lose it. 

So he pulled Alec gently up from the couch, and into the centre of the room. With a flick of his wrist the radio was playing a tune softly in the background, some classical song Alec had put on earlier. Alec looked at him quizzically but went along with it, like he always did. 

Placing a hand on his hip, Magnus pulled him close, tucking his other hand into Alec’s and pulling it close to their chests. He felt Alec's soft gasp of surprise, and then, a laugh. A real one. 

_So honey, now take me into your loving arms, and kiss me under the light of a thousand stars._

They swayed to the soft music filling the room, close in every way that mattered. Alec’s head rested against his shoulder, breath puffing out softly as they danced. He laughed when Magnus started to hum along to the words, singing them under his breath, just for Alec. 

_Place your head on my beating heart, baby I’m thinking out loud._

And in that moment it was easy to pretend that Alec is getting older. That sometime, in the not so distant future, he may be leaving Magnus forever. They both know it now, both accept that the inevitable is not as far away as it once had been. 

But their love story was far from over, and Magnus was confident that it would not end when Alec passed. Because in his wake he had left a handful of beautiful children, some who were immortal, that would continue to carry on his memory every single day. He left a permanent mark on Magnus’ heart, and changed his life in only a way that someone like Alexander Lightwood could. They had shared a full life together, and Magnus would cherish those memories forever. 

While Alec’s time may be limited, Magnus has the rest of his life to cherish the moments he shared with Alec. The lifetime they shared. The memories they created and the love they shared. 

And while they might not be together physically through that, Magnus was confident that Alec would always be with him, until the day he stopped living. 

_Oh baby, we found love right where we are. Yeah we found love, right where we are._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> I can be found on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/insiemes) if you want to chat. 
> 
>  
> 
> See you soon angels x


End file.
